England ready to get cooking, believes Anderson

Fast bowler James Anderson felt England reacted well to the frustration of seeing the start of their summer delayed by rain as Sri Lanka reached 133-2 on a short first day at Cardiff.

Rain kept the players off the pitch until 3.30pm in the first Test and when play did get under way, Sri Lanka openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Tharanga Paranavitana held them up with half-centuries.

But Graeme Swann struck to remove the captain for 50 before Anderson controversially dismissed Kumar Sangakkara.

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“I thought we started pretty well considering the frustration of having to sit up in the dressing room most of the day,” said Anderson.

“We could have got a few more wickets in the first session but they played well, then got two deserved wickets after tea.”

Anderson refuted any suggestion that the England attack were under-cooked through a lack of cricket in the early part of the summer.

“I was pretty over-cooked in the winter. We had a needed break,” he said. “All the guys feel strong and ready to go and I thought we bowled pretty well today.

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“Hopefully, it’ll swing again tomorrow and we can get a few more nicks.

“They’ve got a strong top six and we’ve got to work hard to make inroads into that and, hopefully, if we can get a couple of wickets early we can get them out cheaply.”

The day was touched by controversy when Sangakkara was given out caught behind when England used the decision review system, despite replays not seeming entirely conclusive.

Anderson said: “It was a strange one because the wind was going across the ground so I didn’t hear anything but the slips were convinced he’d nicked it.”

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Dilshan was delighted with the performance of his team, in particular Paranavitana, who was unbeaten on 58 at stumps.

“It’s a great day for us,” he said. “It was not easy but I’m really happy with the performance.

“We tried to assess the conditions and Paranavitana batted really well.

“He’s a great player. He’s batted really well in the last two practice games. He’s a great opener and over the last one-and-a-half, two years has batted really well for his country.

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Asked how Sangakkara felt about being given out on review, Dilshan added: “He’ can’t do anything. The technology is there – he can’t help that.”

Sri Lanka won the toss and Dilshan, who went past 4,000 Test runs, and Paranavitana put on a stand of 93 before Swann struck.

Dilshan, who reached his 50 off 92 balls, perished cutting against the spin and playing on.

Sangakkara got off the mark with an elegant four off Anderson before falling in controversial circumstances for just 11.

Paranavitana collected successive fours off Tremlett as he moved beyond 50 with a flourish at odds with the stoic nature of his innings. Partner Mahela Jayawardene was unbeaten on four at the close.